i'm all about the grace, bout the grace

When you first go to kindergarten, you learn the very basics: the alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes. You then progress to reading, adding & subtracting, and they start teaching you geography and science. By the time you're in high school, you're so far advanced beyond those basics that you hardly ever even give them much thought. The alphabet, numbers and colors are so ingrained into your thinking that you probably don't even pay that much attention to them.

[Galatians 2:20-21: I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.]

Christianity is different. We learn the basics and as we progress and learn new things, we can't forget the basics or we've lost the point.

Reread those verses. These are some pretty powerful statements that Paul is making.

God loves you. God loves you when you feel unlovable. God loves you when you are deep in sin. God loves you. God loves you so much that He sent Jesus to die for you. He knows that we can’t follow the Law. He humbled Himself and came to earth to live a perfect life to take on our sins. What an amazing way to show His love for you!

There’s more… He loves you so much that He doesn’t want you to struggle and give in to the flesh. Christ lives in you. He is always with you. He hasn’t saved us and then left us to fend for ourselves. He helps us live out our faith.

The other thing Paul addresses in these verses is the grace of God. That’s another thing that is so basic, but we can’t forget about it. As we read our Bibles, we learn more and more of what it means to follow Christ. There are things we should and shouldn’t do. It’s easy to start to focus on those should’s and shouldn’t’s and make them matter. When we do that, we start to become judgmental and legalistic of others because we’ve created a new law. We take grace out of the picture and then Christ died for no purpose. We need grace and Christ’s death! Don’t forget the basics!

1. Do you have a tough time believing God loves you? Do you ever feel like you don’t deserve His love?

2. I live by faith in the Son of God, who _______________ me and gave himself for me.

3. What can you do this week to help you focus on Jesus and the cross so that you don’t live as if He died for no purpose?

4. Take a minute and journal your thoughts about this passage:

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These are devotionals written for the teens. A handful of us are taking turns writing, so it may seem like sporadic passages. It all flows nicely for the teens in their devo books though.